1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control device, a display control method and a program and, more particularly, to a display control device, a display control method and a program, which can display an image properly.
2. Background Art
In the digital broadcasting, there are broadcast images which have different image formats such as the aspect ratios of the entire image or the aspect ratios (or the image sizes) of the effective moving-image portions in the image. In the digital broadcasting, for example, there are broadcast images having the entire aspect (horizontal to vertical) ratios of 16:9 and 4:3.
The images of the following image formats are broadcast as the image (as will be suitably called the “16:9 image”) of the aspect ratio of 16:9 in the digital broadcasting.
Specifically, FIG. 1 presents the 16:9 images of three kinds of image formats.
The first one from the top of FIG. 1 presents the 16:9 image (as will be suitably called the “ordinary 16:9 image”) of the image format presenting the entirely effective moving-image portion of the 16:9 image (or the image size of the effective moving-image portion in the 16:9 image is identical to that of 16:9 image). Here, the image format of the ordinary 16:9 image will be suitably called the “ordinary 16:9”.
The second one from the top of FIG. 1 presents the 16:9 image (as will be suitably called the “16:9 image with side panels”) of the image format, in which the image of the aspect ratio of 4:3 of the center portion excepting the right and left end portions of the 16:9 image is an effective moving-image portion.
Here in the 16:9 image with the side panels, the right and left end portions other than the effective moving-image portion are called the side panels. The image format of the 16:9 image with the side panels will be suitably called the “side panel 16:9”.
Here, the 16:9 image with the side panels can be obtained by forming the side panels on the right and left of the image of the aspect ratio of 4:3 of the NTSC (National Television System Committee), for example.
The third one from the top (or the first one from the bottom) of FIG. 1 presents the 16:9 image (as will be suitably called the “letter box image”) of the image format, in which the image of the aspect ratio of 16:9 of the central portion of the 16:9 image with the side panels but excepting the upper and lower end portions is the effective moving-image portion.
Here in the letter box image, the upper and lower end portions other than the effective moving-image portion is called the “letter box”. The image format of the letter box image will be suitably called the “letter box 16:9”.
On the other hand, there has spread the so-called “wide TV (wide television receiver)”, which is equipped with a display having a display area (or a display screen) of an aspect ratio of 16:9 for displaying an image in the display area.
In the wide TV, there have been prepared screen modes for displaying the images of the aforementioned individual image formats in the display.
FIG. 2 shows display examples of images in the individual screen modes on the wide TV.
The first one from the top of FIG. 2 presents a display example of the 16:9 image, as displayed in a screen mode called the “full mode”.
This “full mode” is the screen mode, in which the 16:9 image is displayed as it is, so that the 16:9 image is displayed as it is in the 16:9 display area of the display. Thus in the “full mode”, the 16:9 image is displayed as it is, so that the full mode is suitable for the display of the ordinary 16:9 image, as indicated at the first position from the top of FIG. 2, for example.
The second one from the top of FIG. 2 presents a display example of the 16:9 image, as displayed in a screen mode called the “wide zoom mode”.
The “wide zoom mode” is the screen mode, in which the right and left end portions of the 16:9 image are cut so that only the rightward and leftward (or horizontal) directions are enlarged and displayed. In the 16:9 display area of the display, there is displayed the central portion of the image (or the image enlarged in the rightward and leftward image size) which is obtained by enlarging the 16:9 image to the right and left. Thus in the “wide zoom mode”, the image enlarged rightward and leftward from the 16:9 image is displayed so that it is suitable for the display of the 16:9 image having the side panels, for example, as indicated at the second position from the top of FIG. 2. Here, the “wide zoom mode” is also suited for the display of the image of the aspect ratio of 4:3, for example.
The third one from the top (or the first one from the bottom) of FIG. 2 presents the display example of the 16:9 image displayed in the screen mode called the “zoom mode”.
The “zoom mode” is the screen mode, in which the 16:9 image is cut at its end portions in the rightward and leftward directions and the upward and downward (or vertical) directions so that it is displayed enlarged in both the horizontal and vertical directions. In the 16:9 display area of the display, there is displayed the central portion of the image which is obtained by enlarging the 16:9 image vertically and horizontally (or the image which has its sizes enlarged in the vertical directions and in the horizontal directions). Thus in the “zoom mode”, the image having the 16:9 image enlarged vertically and horizontally is displayed, so that the “zoom mode” is suited for the display of the letter box image, as presented at the third position from the top of FIG. 2.
The screen mode can be selected so to speak manually by operating a remote commander attached to the wide TV, for example. Moreover, the wide TV may have a function to select the screen mode automatically and to display the image in the screen mode. This function is called the “auto-wide function”.
In the wide TV having the auto-wide function, for example, the screen mode is reselected (as referred to JP-A-08-317303 (Patent Document 1)) when triggered by the switching of the voice mode of the digital broadcasting, that is, by the switching of the voice from one to the other of the stereophonic and monophonic modes.
Alternatively in the wide TV having the auto-wide function, the screen mode is reselected when triggered by the change in the size of the moving-image portion (or the aspect ratio of the moving-image portion) of the image as the television broadcasting program displayed in the display, i.e., by the change of the image format of the image as the television broadcasting program displayed in the display.
Moreover, the reselection of the screen mode is made on the basis of the image format of the image, for example. In case the image to be displayed in the display is the ordinary 16:9 image, for example, the “full mode” is reselected as the screen mode, as presented at the first position from the top of FIG. 2. In case the image to be displayed in the display is the 16:9 image having the side panels or the image having the entire aspect ratio of 4:3, for example, the “wide zoom mode” is reselected as the screen mode, as presented at the second position from the top of FIG. 2. In case the image to be displayed in the display is the letter box image, for example, the “zoom mode” is reselected as the screen mode, as presented at the third position from the top of FIG. 2.
In the wide TV of the related art, the screen mode is reselected, when triggered by the change in the image format of the image to be displayed, as described above, in case the auto-wide function is effective. As a result, the proper display may not be performed.
In the digital broadcasting, the data broadcast may be performed in addition of the TV broadcast with images and voices. In the wide TV, on the other hand, a scaling to reduce the image as the TV broadcasting program may be done to create and display the scaled image and the contents of the data broadcasting in the superposed images.
FIG. 3 shows an example of the image (as will be suitably called the “superposed image”), in which the 16:9 image as the television broadcasting program (or contents) and the contents of the data broadcasting are superposed.
In the superposed image of FIG. 3, the lefthand upper area displays the scaled image (or moving-image) which is prepared by scaling the 16:9 image having the side panels, and the righthand and lower side areas of the scaled image display letters and drawings, for example, as the contents of the data broadcasting.
Here, the data broadcasting contents to be displayed in the superposed image are called the “associated data”, for example. In case the data broadcasting of the associated data is performed, whether the image as the television broadcasting program is scaled to display the superposed image of FIG. 3 or whether not the associated data but only the image as the television broadcasting program is displayed is in the wide TV. This display may be designated either by the user to operate the remote commander or with the broadcasting signal of the digital broadcast from the broadcasting station side.
On the other hand, the superposed image is exemplified not only by the superposed image, in which the scaled image of the image as the television broadcasting program and the contents of the data broadcasting are superposed, but also the superposed image, in which the image as the television broadcasting program is not scaled but in which the contents of the data broadcasting are superposed on the nonscaled image. In the following, the superposed image having the scaled image and the data broadcasting contents superposed will be called the “scaling superposed image”, and the superposed image having nonscaled image and the data broadcasting contents superposed will be called the “nonscaled superposed image”.
In the wide TV in the related art, the scaling superposed image may not be properly displayed, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5.
Specifically in case the auto-wide function is effective, as shown on the upper side of FIG. 4, if the image format of the image to be displayed in the display is the side panel 16:9, the “wide zoom mode” is selected as the screen mode on the basis of that image format.
For the side-panel 16:9 image having the image format of the side panel 16:9, therefore, the 16:9 image, in which the image (or the effective moving-image portion) having the central portion of the aspect ratio of 4:3 is expanded rightward and leftward, is displayed in the display area of 16:9 of the display.
In case the display object image or the image to be displayed entirely of the display (or the image to be displayed in the entirety of the display) is changed from the 16:9 image having the side panels to the scaling superposed image of FIG. 3, in which the scaled image scaled from the 16:9 image with the side panels and the associated data are superposed, the image as the television broadcasting program to be displayed in the display is the 16:9 image having the side panels and has its image format unchanged, no matter whether the display object image might be the 16:9 image having the side panels or the scaling superposed image of FIG. 3.
Even if, therefore, the display object image is changed from the 16:9 image having the side panels to the scaling superposed image of FIG. 3, the screen mode is unchanged in the “wide zoom mode”. Therefore, the scaling superposed image is enlarged rightwardly and leftwardly and displayed, as shown on the lower side of FIG. 4. As a result, there may occur the letter missing, in which the associated data such as letters in the scaling superposed image is not displayed in the display area of the display.
Even for the ordinary 16:9 image, the user may enlarge and display a portion, that is, may display the ordinary 16:9 image in the “zoom mode”, as shown on the upper side of FIG. 5. If the auto-wide function is active (or effective) on the ordinary 16:9 image, the “full mode” is displayed, as shown at the top position from the top of FIG. 2. In order that the ordinary 16:9 image may be displayed in the “zoom mode”, the user need make the auto-wide function ineffective and to select the “zoom mode” manually.
In case the auto-wide function is made ineffective so that the ordinary 16:9 image is displayed in the “zoom mode”, as described above, the image as the television broadcasting program to be displayed in the display remains the ordinary 16:9 image, even if the display object image is changed from the ordinary 16:9 image to the scaling superposed image, in which the scaled image scaled from the ordinary 16:9 image and the associated data are superposed. Therefore, the screen mode remains in the “zoom mode”. Therefore, the scaling superposed image is enlarged vertically and horizontally and displayed, as shown on the lower side of FIG. 5. As a result, as in the case of FIG. 4, there may occur the letter missing, in which the associated data such as the letters in the scaling superposed image is not displayed in the display area of the display.
The scaling superposed image is the 16:9 image, in which the scaled image and the associated data are displayed in their entirety, and the display of the scaling superposed image is proper when it is made in the “full mode”. When the scaling superposed image is to be displayed in the “full mode” in the case of FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, however, the user need switch the screen mode manually into the “full mode”, thus, it is troublesome.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the situations thus far described, and contemplates to display an image properly.